Sweetheart getaway 2011

Chad and I celebrated our 14th anniversary on Wednesday, October 26th. 

Thursday Chad and I took Amtrak from Bloomington to Chicago.  We used public transportation to get around while we were there.

It was fun to take the train, I had never been on an Amtrak. I didn’t take a picture of the main cabins, they are much like an airplane but a lot more spacious. We went up to the lounge car and enjoyed sitting in seats that face the large windows.

Our first bus was a double long, if you look closely you can see a black circle part way up the bus, this was where the two sections were connected, you can tell how the front part of the bus was turning a corner and the rear hadn’t started the turn yet. (This may seem an odd thing to post, but I’m just a country bumpkin, it was pretty neat to me!)

Thursday we explored the area a little.  Our hotel was at the North end of the Magnificent Mile.  We were about a block from Water Tower Place, a large shopping mall.

For supper we ate Chicago style deep dish pizza from Pizzeria Due.  I believe they are related to the Pizzeria Uno company.

We browsed the mall a bit and headed to the hotel for an early lights out.  We were pretty tired, both of us were up early.

Friday we went to the Yolk for breakfast.  It was a recommendation from one of Chad’s brothers and a good one at that.  It seemed a bit pricey but the amount of food they gave went along with the price!  I couldn’t finish my meal, Chad had to do that for me.

From there we walked towards the river for the boat cruise we planned to take at 10.  We wandered around the area a little to fill time.

Did you know…

The Chicago Tribune touted itself as the “World’s Greatest Newspaper?” That is where the AM radio station got it’s calling letters WGN. The station has it’s recording studio in a corner office surrounded by windows so you can watch the announcer as he’s talking. I didn’t take a picture but it was neat seeing the recording studio.

Chad was strategically placed to hide the Marilyn Monroe larger than life statue between him and the Chicago Tribune building.

We took an Architectural River Cruise on the boat on the right.  It was an interesting cruise though Chad enjoyed it much more than I did.  The engineer in him just soaked it all in.

These pictures are from our walk before the cruise, the cruise pictures will come later.

 

 

The unique looking building in the center of the picture is the Radisson, it opens on Tuesday, November 1st.  It looks kind of neat up close, but from a distance I personally thought it was ugly.  There will be a picture below from our river cruise.

 

A memorial outside the fire department for a fireman who lost his life fighting a fire.

The Wrigley Building.

Did you know…  Mr Wrigley started off selling products other than gum and gave gum away as an incentive to prospective buyers.  He realized that chewing gum seemed to have potential for sales so he began his business of selling chewing gum.  It’s an interesting history, do a Google search to learn more.

 

 

The tallest building straight ahead is the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower.

 

 

The Radisson from a distance.

 

Our tour boat up close.  It had a bar in the cabin, the hot cocoa sounded great, but for $8 a cup I decided to just stick with my cold water!!!

 

 

I think from here we took the L (the elevated train) to Chinatown.  We ordered a meal to split between us and it was about more than we could eat.  Again, plenty of food and the price was right! 

In the evening we went to the Pacific Garden Mission for a tour of their facility.  If you have heard the radio program “Unshackled,” this is where it is recorded.  I may try to do a separate post on our tour if time allows.

We purchased a 24 hour pass with unlimited use for the public transportation.  Here we were waiting to board a bus.  I took this picture for our children, probably not too interesting to the rest of you.

A hallway in the subway.

Waiting for the subway train to arrive.

Ready to board.

The Chicago Water Tower on the Magnificent Mile.

It gained special significance as one of the few buildings to survive the destructive path of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Our hotel – the Tremont.  We were on the 15th floor.  It was an old hotel that has been well kept.  It isn’t modern by any means, but comfortable and clean.

Saturday we walked the mall till close to eleven and then crossed the street to the John Hancock Building.

We ate our lunch at the Signature Room at the 95th. We were informed ahead of time that it was cheaper to eat lunch with a view than pay $15 a person to go to the observatory on the 97th. When you’re that high what’s two more floors? We did go to the 96th because the Signature Room Lounge is on that floor and so we were able to view from windows on the opposite side of the building from there.

If you decide to eat a meal at the Signature Room, I recommend you get there as close to opening as you can, you’ll have a better chance at getting a table by the window.

The John Hancock Building.  We could see this building from our hotel which was just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

The view from our table at lunch.

I was a bit queasy at first.  Part of it I think was the quick elevator and such a drastic change in elevation so quickly.  After awhile I felt fine and was able to enjoy the view.

 

 

 

You can see the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier.

 

In this picture I was tying to capture the height of the building in the upper right corner to show how high we really were.

The red brick building is the Tremont Hotel.

 

The only picture I took walking the streets.  You can see Chad to the right.  We carried our things in backpack designed for such an occasion.  It was easier than dragging suitcases around on public transportation and as we walked the city streets.

How did people ever get around without an iPhone?  We used it to identify our location and the best route to take to the next location we wanted to be at.  It was easy to get bus numbers and where to catch the bus with that thing. 

My legs got REALLY sore from all the walking we did!  My calf muscles tighten up quite a bit at night and then it’s quite an effort to get out of bed and get moving again!

Boarding Amtrak for our trip home.

We enjoyed our time away, but it was soooo good to get back home and hold our children close!